Celebrating Aaron's birthday

Last weekend was Uncle Aaron's birthday - an occasion for a nice long walk in Andover.

Lined up in order of height (peek-a-boo)

Birthday boy with better half.

Henry, who has a newfound interest in rock climbing (and posing for photos).

Why it's hugely fun to have four kids (but only for a weekend)

Visit from Max and Zane

Alex and Amy came up to visit from NYC this weekend. It was great to see them, and so much fun to get the boys together again. As in Rabat, they were delighted just to play together in the living room.

Cambridge Common playground.

Max was pleased to find he is heavier than Henry. (Esti, bottom center, referreed.)

Zane watching the goings-on in the sandbox.

A soccer game

Henry seems to be enjoying his time on the Eagles, the name of his Somerville Youth Soccer under-5 team. Our friends Maria (Matteo's mom, far right) and Andrew (Cole's dad) are coaching. Thursday night practices consist of some pro forma jumping jacks and a lot of dribbling games, like "sharks and minnows" and "farmers and foxes." Games are 3 on 3, no goalie, small field, minimal rules. Mostly just keep the ball in play and make sure no one runs into each other.

Hanging out on the sidelines.

Inculcating sportsmanship.

So far, so good.

Pleasure reading

The Times recently ran a story about how picture book sales are suffering because parents are not reading them to their little kids anymore.  They quoted some booksellers:

“They’re 4 years old, and their parents are getting them ‘Stuart Little,’ ” said Dara La Porte, the manager of the children’s department at the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington. “I see children pick up picture books, and then the parents say, ‘You can do better than this, you can do more than this.’ It’s a terrible pressure parents are feeling — that somehow, I shouldn’t let my child have this picture book because she won’t get into Harvard.”

I can understand why she'd make that assumption about parents, but it's nonsense.  Ken is the main story-reader in our family, and he is certainly not concerned about anyone getting into Harvard.  It's just that he wants to read books to Henry that he also enjoys for himself, and he's a text guy.  Picture books bore him.  They went through Stuart Little, yes (weird book!), and Charlotte's Web and The Hobbit (which they'll have to read again when Henry is old enough to get more of it) and Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Fantastic Mr. Fox etc.  Right now they are into the Moomintroll series by Tove Jansson -- I read these as a kid, and now they are suddenly back in bookstores for some reason; they're brilliant and amazing, like from another world (the nuclear-worried 1950s).  I bought them Finn Family Moomintroll for the plane trip to Wisconsin and they read through it twice right away.  Having a chapter book to hold over Henry makes bedtime go incomparably more smoothly.  I mention this because they will soon exhaust the eight Moominbooks, and then what?  Help!  We are racking our memories -- suggestions welcome!  It has to be interesting and not be set in a middle school.

Esti, meanwhile, loves books already.  She will crawl (or now, walk) over to the bookshelf, grab a book, and bring it over for you to read to her.  She does this at our house and also at Nirmala's.  Doesn't have much patience for the reading itself, but I think she already looks at the pictures.  The Charlie Harper ABC book that Toshimi gave us (they're reading it above) is her favorite. 
(Sorry about the fattening aspect ratio on that video; I need a better movie-making program.  Going to keep the next one sideways and make you turn your head.)
Here's my mom reading her the same book on the airport shuttle bus on our way to Maryland (yet another wedding) on Sept 25.  You can see she wants to clap or dance along.

Playdate with Elias and Jen

After all the travels of this summer (Rabat; Wisconsin), it is really nice to get into a regular groove of playground socializing: being home, seeing our friends again. Meanwhile Laila (far left in background) and especially six-month-old Maya (in swing) have grown tremendously.




Laila takes an interest in babies and enjoyed pushing Esti and her sister on the swings.



Meanwhile Esti has learned to use the slide. Nirmala and Ramesh take her to the park almost every day, and with them she's even been sliding down frontwards. With us, only on her tummy.



Henry in the fire truck. Every time we go to one of these fabulous playgrounds I still think about how few of them there were in Rabat, and what a loss that is. Here (in our parts of town, of course) they're on every second block.

Writing and drawing

When Henry got back from Wisconsin, he started preschool at the Tufts Educational Day Care Center. They are great. We went to Curriculum Night there last week and they had all kinds of neat stuff to play with, tons of books, and a very reasonable firm but non-pushy approach to pre-academic skills. The teachers were very warm and funny. There are 20 kids in his class, and it is just a more grown-up place than Deb's house. Henry often is not ready to leave when we arrive to pick him up -- and this after an 8-hour day. He has also changed a little: gotten more organized perhaps, better able to see the big picture of things. Also his drawing has suddenly gotten figurative.

This is Ken sleeping late: blanket, stick-figure torso, two pairs of eyes signifying glasses.

This is a note he wrote to me about two weeks into this day care. I had no idea he could write. Ken told him how to spell the words, but the writing is all Henry's. It says, "DEAr MOMMY [flip over and keep reading]

IMISS YOU SIGNED HENrY." He always writes the "r" lowercase, no idea why; it's like a signature now.

By the way, while I am flattered that he misses me, I do NOT feel at all conflicted about working a lot. Other people work way more; we all four eat dinner together almost every night. Besides, it's clear he's thriving. Spending more time with me and less at school would not be an improvement. I'm slowly figuring out how to teach college kids, but preschoolers I have absolutely no idea about.

DeCordova family day

The DeCordova museum had a "family fun day" (for the future we should know that this means "huge crowd day") at some point in September. Sand sculptures (including sand copies of the most famous works in the sculpture garden)...

Big Naso again...

...and lots of good old-fashioned goofing around. It's really fun to see Esti developing an actual sense of humor.

Younger sibs

Ice cream in Harvard Square.

Henry shares; meanwhile, Esti takes matters into her own hands.

Because photographing Gardens is like herding cats

The day after the wedding: everyone came back to eat leftovers and help clean up. A group picture was attempted. Henry wasn't in it, because he ran away pouting about something at the last minute. But there are enough other squirmy towheads.

Grandpa Ken, in context. L-R: Uncles Dick and Buz, Grandpa Ken, Uncle Tom, Aunt Sis, Uncle Jim.

Kate and Pro's wedding

Richland Center, WI, 9/11/10.  The "steampunk" wedding theme meant everyone was gorgeously dressed up in pseudo-retro-fashion: lots of aviator goggles, Victorian-style cleavage, and (for some reason) kilts on the menfolk.  Roger officiated in that lovely brown top hat.  The farm looked spectacular.  Kate's dress matched the wildflowers.  The weather started out rainy that morning but cleared just in time for the ceremony.  Absolutely everyone appeared to be in a good mood.  A magical day.

Various Garden cousins and friends cavorting in the grass.  My two blondies aren't pictured, but it was fun to see how they fit right in.

Esti dances with Roger.

The bride and groom perform the "candy toss" -- a ritual I had not heard of, but Henry certainly got into it.  (I believe he still has two separate stashes of candy, one from Western Days and one from the wedding.  And Halloween is just around the corner -- what to do?)
 

The festivities went on for hours: dinner, impromptu jazz concert in the old barn, dancing, bonfire... both kids stayed up really late, but Esti finally succumbed (to loud dance music, as usual) in the arms of Ken's cousin Amy.

With Violet

Violet is Esti's step-cousin. Can you tell she loves babies? She carried and walked Esti around for hours.

Eating Grandma Nancy's raspberries.

Yum!

Sept 6

This was from my birthday, celebrated (alas) without Ken or Henry. Esti is dancing. She does this whenever she hears any hint of a song or a beat -- even when you sing the ABCs.

I think I can say: it has been a good year for us.